Primary Cells Market

Primary human cells are isolated directly from normal human tissue or blood cells via the enzymatic or mechanical method. Primary cells retain their fundamental cellular functions. Hence, their use in cell-based research programs is increasing significantly.

Numerous factors such as rapid growth in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries, growing cancer research, rising adoption of primary cells over cell lines, increasing demand for monoclonal antibodies, and rising healthcare expenditure are anticipated to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Additionally, the growing research on personalized therapies and stem cells is likely to contribute to market growth. However, the high cost of advanced primary cells and risk of contamination may hamper the growth of the market. The increasing preference of primary cells in research and development to develop new drug acts as opportunities for the growth of the primary cell market.

Cancer is one of the major causes of death across the globe and is responsible for a large number of deaths. Different pharmaceutical companies and research institutes are involved in developing cancer treatment drugs using cell culture. The increasing prevalence of cancer across the globe is promoting the demand for research activities to develop new drugs. According to the National Cancer Institute in 2018, around 1,735,350 cases of cancer were diagnosed in the US alone.

Additionally, Cancer Research UK reported that in 2018 the new cases of cancer were reported to be 17 million across the world. The increasing number of populations suffering from cancer increases the demand for new research activities to develop new drugs, which ultimately increases the demand for products such as primary cell culture. For instance, the National Cancer Institute conducts different research on cancer biology, cancer genomics, and causes of cancer using primary cell culture. Additionally, there are different major and small manufacturers and suppliers such as Merck KGaA and PromoCell GmbH, who provide primary cells for cancer research.

In research activity, primary cells are used for drug screening and to study the effect of drugs on human cells. During cancer research the primary cells are exposed to different chemicals, radiations, and can be infected with viruses to make them cancerous. These cells can be used to study the cause of cancer, mechanism, and transformed signaling pathways. They are also used to study the adverse effects of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and irradiation on normal cells. The increasing prevalence of cancer and research activities to develop new drugs drives the market growth of primary cells.

Research and development activities are growing across the globe due to the increasing number of pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing units. The primary cell is used in drug screening at the clinical stage, before launching the drug into the market. The increasing focus on genomic research, personalized medicines, and growing research on cancer treatment act as an opportunity for market growth. Increasing use of primary cells in 3D cell culture technology to study cell morphology, cancer cells, and new drug development acts as an opportunity to grow the market in the future.

The increasing number of biobanks to store different types of cells collected from the donor has supported the primary cell market by increasing the availability of human primary cell samples used in research. The increasing number of cell banks across the world drives market growth. The cryopreservation method is also an efficient technique through which the cells can be stored for longer period with similar cell property and can be used whenever required.

Also, increasing funding by the government for research and development activity in pharmaceutical sector supports market growth. For instance, in 2014 governments of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries accounted about USD 51 billion on health-related research and development. Thus, improving research and development (R&D) and increasing number of biobanks are expected to be the greatest opportunities for the global primary cell market.

Contamination is the most common problem while working in laboratories using cell culture. Mycoplasma, fungi, yeast, bacteria, chemicals, and laboratory instruments are different sources of contamination in labs, whereas the microbial contamination occurs through poor handling of culture, using nonsterile equipment and instruments. In addition, laboratory facilities such as laminar airflow and humidified incubators are sources for contamination while handling primary cells.

Other factors, such as limited lifetime of primary cells compared to immortalized cell lines may affect the demand for these cells. Additionally, another limitation of primary cells is the procedure to isolate the cells using different chemicals and enzymes. These procedures affect cellular products and damages the integrity of the cell membrane that may affect the quality of the primary cell. The change in the quality of cell hampers the demand for products from researchers.